Chapter 4

Din Holnt set the brand new, Naboo Cruiser down at the small spaceport on Duro. The planet had been largely inhabitable due to the high levels of toxins in the air. That is, until the Vong took possession of the world. Using their own organic devices they were able to purify pretty much the entire planet. Even though the planet had no natural resources for the Vong to use, it still proved to be a strategic position for an attack on Coruscant; due to its close proximity to the Core Worlds.

As Din and Zeek disembarked, Zeek asked. "Where do we start?"

Din rubbed his slender jaw. "From what information I was given, it appears that Duro is sparsely populated. In fact, what we're in now could not even be called a city. It's more of a settlement. And there are dozens of settlements all over the planet."

"Great!" Zeek said sarcastically. "Well, at least there won't be many places for a vort to hide in the … uh … settlements."

Din chuckled. "Well, we aren't going to be walking from place to place now are we?" He pointed to a fairly new-looking shop with a picture of a speeder displayed out front. "Let's rent us some transportation, hmm?"

Cordell found it strange that no one had confronted him about the other night when he created that foreboding feeling. However, he did not worry about such things. Right now his only focus was to escape his makeshift prison and release some of the raw power he now held at his fingertips.

He realized that first he would have to distract his extremely attentive guard. Carefully he placed a suggestion in Nayanll's mind, that she should take a chance and talk to the odd (though intriguing) boy with the a streak of pink through his hair, and the dedication that had him working at the missing Student's door for many an hour.

Cordell felt Nayanll take the bait, and he himself moved to his barred window. If I can just get out of here, not even Nayanll will be able to catch me. Cordell placed his hands on the bars, and they slowly began to melt away. Once he created a large enough hole, he began to work on the glass in the same manner. He did not notice, however, when a piece of still-steaming bar began to stretch from the intense heat it had been under. The piece broke free and fell to the ground with a gentle clink.

Uh oh! Cordell thought.

Out in the hallway, Nayanll had worked up a conversation with Todan when her sensitive ears picked up a noise from Cordell's room. She instinctively sensed trouble and lunged for the control panel.

Cordell spun around and pointed at the control panel on his side of the door. A bolt of Force lightning sprang from his finger and fried the panel. He turned and shattered the window as he dove through it into the night air.

Nayanll heard glass breaking just after the control panel blew up on her side. She whipped out her lightsaber, ignited her pink blade, and sliced open the door. She rushed inside, followed by Todan. When Nayanll reached the window and looked outside, Cordell was nowhere to be found. Nayanll shut off her lightsaber and growled deeply in frustration. Suddenly she gasped. "His lightsaber!"

Just as she spoke there was a loud BOOM, and the whole Jome seemed to shake. Todan and Nayanll ran out into the hallway and choked on the dirt- and dust-filled air. They made their way toward the turbolifts, only to find that they were completely destroyed at that level.

Cordell jumped out of the darkened shaft and through the hole in the wall he had made. As he landed outside the Jome, he heard someone yell his name behind him. He turned and saw Nayanll and Todan leap across the chasm. Cordell laughed, pointed, and launched an assault of Force lightning.

Todan sensed it coming and planted himself in front of Nayanll. He focused with all his might in deflecting the attack. Todan was able to draw it into his hands, but he was unable to make it bounce off. His arms filled with pain and then nothing.

The attack was over and Cordell was off again. Todan felt it as the jolt made its way through his body and collapsed when it reached his legs. He vaguely felt Nayanll catch him as he fell. Before the attack assaulted his mind, he remembered telling Nayanll to get to the spaceport, and then there was dark.

Cordell was indeed headed for the spaceport. He needed something fast and low profile. He needed to go somewhere he could test his abilities, somewhere with fewer Jedi. Someday. He thought. When I am sure I am strong enough.

Jyo, Salah, and the rest of the advanced class (minus Todan, Nayanll and Cordell) sat listening to a lecture being given by Tahiri on questions to ask yourself to determine whether or not an act is of the dark side. Suddenly, Tahiri stopped speaking, and Jyo knew the entire class felt it too.

Jyo felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on him. The sensation was unbearable. The pain and suffering of someone they all knew; then there was nothing.

Confusion soon filled the room.

"What's going on?" Someone called.

"Why can't I sense anything wrong?" Another said.

Jyo could not understand it either. His Force perception had lost its clarity; almost like a fog had fallen over it. What could cause this to happen?

Dark energy so emanated from Cordell's body, that you could almost see it surrounding him. The things he had kept inside for so long: his dislike for Denz, his loathe for Jyo's intelligence, his jealousy of Zeek's Force abilities, and most of all his disappointment in himself for not having these abilities. But now he had them and more. If Cordell had known all this power could be his just by giving in to his evil emotions, he never would have waited this long to do so.

Cordell was coming up on the spaceport now, his speed still increasing. He blew past the guard stations so quickly he went unnoticed. And even though his cloak had kept him from being recognized or pinpointed by Jedi a mile or more away, he suddenly became aware that Lowbacca was nearby and had sensed him as well.

There! Cordell thought as he saw Lowbacca emerge from one of the hangars and on either side of him were Krison Glynt and Kam Twoplintor. Krison leveled a blaster at Cordell and fired a stun beam.

Cordell slowed his run enough to dodge the blue bolt of energy. He responded with a bolt of Force lightning that hit the blaster, causing it to explode in Krison's hand. The young pilot dropped what was left of the weapon and held his hand in pain.

Cordell sensed what he was looking for was just a few hangars past Lowbacca and the others. Cordell saw Lowbacca growl into a comlink and guessed he had given Tahiri the heads up. This reminded Cordell of his own "special" comlink that Denz had made for him. The one good thing Denz ever did for me, he thought as he unclipped the device from his wrist.

Cordell held down the red button and said, "Dark Disaster." He then hurled it with all his might at Lowbacca. He directed the throw with the Force, and even when all three of them dove in different directions, it still found its target.

No one had expected such a small device to pack such a large explosion. The blast hit Lowbacca with the most force, throwing him a football field's length backward into one of the hangar's walls. The Wookie's fur was singed and several bones had to have been broken from the impact. The aftershock also sent Kam and Krison tumbling. Krison hit his head and fell unconscious, while Kam merely rolled to a stop and sat up slowly, holding his head.

Cordell took the opportunity and dashed past him into one of the hangars that held an A-Wing. Cordell quickly closed the hatch and fired up the engines. Ignoring pre-flight checks, Cordell maneuvered the craft around and taxied it out of the hangar.

Kam's comlink bleeped and he groggily answered it.

"Kam?" Came Tahiri's voice. "I can't get through to Lowbacca, so I'll tell you: Don't let Cordell get off planet, at any cost!"

"Roger!" Kam replied and shut off the comlink.

He slowly rose and set himself. Now that Cordell is in a ship, there is only one way to stop him. Kam thought as he lifted his biotic right arm and aimed at the exiting A-Wing.

His robotic fingers and thumb bent completely back and retracted. Kam's wrist opened and a tube several inches in length slide out and locked into place. He held his transformed arm steady with his flesh-and-blood arm as he locked onto the now fleeing A-Wing. Kam's "Kannon" made a whining sound as it charged and then fired.

Din Holnt and Zeek Solo zoomed away from the spaceport in a well-used speeder they had rented.

"Tell me again why you had to haggle with the owner for about ten minutes about a price, when we could have easily afforded the original offer." Zeek was saying.

Din almost looked comical sitting in the passenger's seat with his long legs bent into the most comfortable position the small space would allow. "For the fun of it." Din shifted in his seat again. "And I should have taken him lower for lack of leg room."

Zeek stifled a chuckle as Din shifted yet again.

They were out on the open plains of Duro now; heading toward the closest town.

"Master Holnt?"

"Zeek, I told you; it's Din, okay?"

"Sorry, Din. I was just wondering. You didn't happen to see any communication towers in that town back there did you? You know, the short-ranged kind used for local transmissions."

Din rubbed his narrow chin. "No, I didn't."

"So how do they keep in contact with the other settlements?"

"Maybe someone goes and checks on them periodically. It is possible that each settlement is self-substantial. What with how fertile the ground has become since the Vong …"

Zeek had been watching Din when he stopped mid-sentence. "What is it?"

Din pointed in the direction of the town they were headed to. "I just got a really bad feeling about where we're going."

"Do you want me to change course?"

"No! We were sent here to protect these people. We can't run away from what we're looking for."

"Sorry, Master."

Din sighed. "One: I told you not to call me 'Master'. Two: if we get into a situation where we must fight to protect others, whether directly or indirectly, I want you to promise me that you will make all your decisions based on their well-being; not your own and not mine."

"Yes, sir."

Din shook his head. "Oh, well. That's a little better."